bitten had given some accidental occasion for it, as by treading on the Dog's foot; for it was owing to his not hanging the Dog on the first Notice. And the safety of the KING'S Subjects ought not afterwards to be endangered. 2 Stra. 1263. If a Dog chases Sheep, &c. without setting on, or Notice before to the Master, an action does not lie. Dyer, 25, b. 29. a. Nor is the Owner answerable for the first mischief done by a Dog, or other tame Animal. Buller, N. P. 77. 362 Pigeon Shooting is more fashionably followed in the Counties of Bucks, Berks, Hants, and Surry, than in any other parts of England. As a mode of Shooting to bet large Sums of Money upon, it is, perhaps, the least objectionable, since every Shooter has an equal chance as to the distance from whence the Bird is sprung, but it certainly is not the exact Shooting that a Sportsman will ever try or fancy as an Amusement; besides, the Mind that thinks at all, must feel a Repugnance at the idea of first confining, and then setting at liberty, hundreds of domestic Animals doomed to instant death; or, what is worse, to languish under wounds that in the end prove mortal. This Representation, and it is by no means overcharged, peremptorily checks any opinion of that Man's Humanity, who indulges largely with his Gun in this species of Slaughter: there is no Excuse for the wanton barbarity of it; indeed the practice warrants a Remark that has, perhaps, been fastidiously made against the Cruelty of Shooting in general, by certain Philosophers, who, although they never take the Field in Person against Hares, Pheasants, or Partridges, receive them with great Complacency from their Sporting Friends; or buy them of Poachers. I believe, however, there is no Precedent of half a dozen Pigeons killed from the Trap having been forwarded as a Present, or that they would have proved acceptable to Palates so nicely versed in the Flavour of Game, and which they are so well disposed to go every length to indulge. The Shooting of Pigeons and of Game is so widely different, that a person may almost always strike his Bird from the Box, that scarcely ever makes shift to hit it when rising from the Bush, unless a Pointer ascertains to an inch from what spot he may expect the Bird to spring. No method is so advantageous in learning to shoot well, as acquiring it by practising at Game: the Pigeon from the Trap glides off in Silence, and not a Nerve is discomposed by the smallest alarm; but in the Field, where the Partridge or Pheasant rises with all the Vigour of an Animal exerting his powers to preserve Life and Liberty, the consequent sound of their Pinions in their ascent into the Air, and which is always attended with considerable Noise, will perhaps longer create more of that Trepidation (which, when possessed even in a trifling degree, effectually deters from Steadiness in shooting) than if the Shooter had never accustomed himself to fire at objects whose flight is so dissimilar. Many young Shooters exercise their skill at Swallows*, Swifts, and Martins; but the Flight of these *It has been remarked that in the Month of October, on the Coast between Orford-ness and Yarmouth, Swallows assemble in Swarms, covering the Church leads, and the naked Branches of Trees. They are then preparing to quit this Country, and are evidently Wind-bound, for they will abide till the Wind veers to the North-West, or some other favourable point, which if it hap birds is so irregular, and unlike that of every Bird which the Sportsman pursues, that even a certainty pens to do in the Night, not a single Swallow is seen in the Morning. This being the nearest land to the opposite Shore, Instinct has shewn them the Spot from whence their Migration can most speedily be performed to those places where their Food continues in equal Abundance to what they found with us during the Summer. There are various instances on Record, and which bear strong marks of Veracity, of Swallows having been taken out of Water, and being so far recovered by Warmth as to fly about for a short space; but the Celebrated JOHN HUNTER informs us, "that he had dissected many Swallows, but found nothing in them different from other Birds, as to the Organs of Respiration," and therefore concludes that it is highly absurd to suppose that terrestrial Animals can remain any long time under Water without being drowned. "If," says Mr. WHITE, in his History of Selborne, “I ever saw any thing like actual Migration, it was on Michaelmas Day, 1768. I was travelling, and out early; at first there was a vast Fog, but by the time I was got seven or eight miles from home, towards the Coast, the Sun broke out into a delicate warm Day. We were on a large Heath or Common, and I could discover, as the Mist broke away, great Numbers of Swallows clustering on the stunted Shrubs and Bushes, as if they had roosted there all Night. As soon as the Air became clear and pleasant they all were on the Wing at once; and by a placid and easy Flight proceeded on Southward, towards the Sea. After this I did not see any more Flocks, only now and then a Straggler. "I cannot agree with those persons who assert that the Swallow kind disappear some and some gradually, as they come: for the Bulk of them seem to withdraw at once; only a few Stragglers stay behind; and they, there is the greatest reason to believe, never leave this Island. Swallows seem to lay themselves up, and to come forth in a warm Day, as Bats do continually of a Warm Evening, after they have disappeared for Weeks. A very respectable Gentleman assured me that, as he was walking with some of killing them, (which, by the way, a despicable bad shot may acquire a knack of doing, by seizing a particular Moment when they are just upon the Turn, and are for an instant stationary,) does not at all forward their Dexterity in bringing down any Species of Game. Beside the inefficacy of this practice, it is destroying a very useful Race of Birds, which entirely feed whilst on the wing, and relieve us from innumerable noxious Insects, that annually infest the Air of this Country. Whoever contemplates the Myriads of Insects that sport in the Sun friends under Merton Wall, on a remarkably hot Noon, either in the last Week of December or the first Week in January, he espied three or our Swallows huddled together on the moulding of one of the Windows of that College. I have frequently observed that Swallows are seen later at Oxford than elsewhere: Is it owing to the Massy Buildings of that place, to the many Waters round it, or to what Else? "When," continues Mr. W. "last Autumn in a Morning I used to see the Swallows and Martins clustering on the Chimnies and Thatch of the Neighbouring Cottages, I could not help being touched with a secret Delight, mixed with some degree of Mortification with Delight, in noting with how much Ardour and Punctuality these poor little Birds obey the strong Impulse towards Migration or Hiding, imprinted on their Minds by their great CREATOR: and with some degree of Mortification, when I reflected that, after all our Inquiries, we are not yet certain to what Regions they do migrate; and are still further embarrassed to find that some do not actually migrate at all. "Amusive Birds! say where your hid Retreat, When the Frost rages, and the Tempests beat? |